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Speaking for myself I've lost all interest in Marvel these day's mostly because some of the titles I enjoyed were canceled along time ago but other then that now that Valiant is back they've stolen me away from Marvel 4ever again. Today's Marvel is just, Meh! compared to the '70's-'80's era I find nothing of value other then going out to watch there movies with my family. I gotta say that I really like what Aspen is doing currently with a few of their titles and I'm always going to love Valiant along with DC I just hope they don't screw up and cause me to withdraw from collecting stuff from them like Marvel.

BOTH of the major comic book universes have been largely soured for me. I blame the marketing departments of both companies. Somewhere along the line, the balance was tipped. Comics that used to be largely character- and storyline- driven have succumbed to stunt-marketing gimmicks like reboots, renumbering, and the ever-proliferating cycle of crossover-driven "events". Not to mention the ever-popular "Somebody dies!" Once in a while a title or character can struggle through all that, but usually only when the character is primarily confined to a single title (like Mark Waid's Daredevil). But the universe itself (both of them), as an overarching concept, has been pretty much tainted for me beyond any hope of redemption as a primary point of attraction.

I've been a Marvel reader all my life, since it was sixties Marvel reprints that initially sparked my interest in American comics. Is Marvel now rather different to Marvel then? Yes. Is it all 100% better or 100% worse? No. There are Marvel titles I don't care for, so I don't buy them (Punisher and X-Force being two examples). There are others I enjoy, so I do (Daredevil and X-Factor fit into that category, but aren't the only ones). Essentially, they're the same characters existing in the same universe I've always followed, just presented in a different way. I also buy a lot of titles from other publishers, because I like them (though I've admittedly given up on DC). I think I rather resent the inference that I'm not a "real comic fan" because I still enjoy Marvel.

There are Marvel titles I don't care for, so I don't buy them (Punisher and X-Force being two examples). There are others I enjoy, so I do (Daredevil and X-Factor fit into that category, but aren't the only ones).

I essentially agree with this statement, but for me it's a matter of numbers. Where for most of Marvel's existence, I could enjoy (to one degree or another) a couple of dozen titles, today that number is down to a mere handful (less than half-a-dozen) and likely to dwindle even further based on what I've seen or read teased of the Marvel NOW relaunches. The same applies to DC. The only real difference there is that my interest in many Marvel characters has been slowly waning for the last few years, while with DC, last year's reboot resulted in me reading a LOT less DC titles in the space of a couple of months. And in the last couple of years, the mania for one crossover event after another has become excessively wearying.

Originally Posted by tony ingram

Essentially, they're the same characters existing in the same universe I've always followed, just presented in a different way.

I don't know if I agree with that, though. Marvel has slowly snuck in lots of retcons and continuity implants over the years that have in effect amounted to a "soft reboot" (but they will tell you that First X-Men is not a reboot). It varies from character to character and title to title, of course, but it feels like the "fun" tone their comics used to have is just dissipating. Continuity used to be a big deal at Marvel (some might have said "a sacred cow"), but I enjoyed it. Now, it feels burdensome and I just want to get off the treadmill. The only titles left that I can really enjoy are those that are largely isolated from the goings-on in the universe at large (Daredevil) or outside the normal Marvel-616 Universe altogether (Punisher MAX, Fury MAX). I just lost two of my longest-running reads this week (Captain America and Iron Man). Sure creative teams and "new directions" have always come and gone, but you could usually count on something new to fill the gap of titles you'd dropped (or, more often than not these last few years, Marvel cancelled) -- and that's happening less and less frequently for me.